ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU Tops Reservations Chart Ahead of Opening

Boss Baby: Family Business (2021) 

Despite the hot weather and summer holidays, increased COVID protocols and a lack of major new releases kept the box office cool as sales slowed over 20% week-on-week, with just 746,000 recorded. The local market was kept at bay with a 16% share, a figure that should rise considerably with the release of the first local tentpole of the season later this week.

Scoring the first place debut was Boss Baby: Family Business, which filled 257,000 seats (USD 2.08 million) over the weekend. The animation sequel secured 356,000 sales (USD 2.83 million) over its first five days.

Marvel title Black Widow slowed 43% during its third weekend, as it welcomed another 251,000 viewers (USD 2.28 million). The Disney title has so far reached 2.58 million spectators (USD 22.82 million), the largest pandemic total of any foreign film to date.

Following a strong start last week, the Thai-Korean horror The Medium appeared to be front-loaded as it suffered a 67% decline. The Na Hongjin-produced title added 99,000 entries (USD 929,000), pushing its haul to 770,000 admissions (USD 6.94 million).

Horror sequel Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, scoring fourth place, slowed only 50% after garnering positive reactions from local viewers. The film brought in another 39,000 viewers (USD 348,000), pushing its haul to 189,000 sales (USD 1.63 million).

Closing out two months in theaters, Disney’s Cruella remained in the top five after a slight 26% drop, adding 23,000 spectators (USD 204,000) over the weekend. The sleeper hit has now accrued 1.96 million admissions (USD 16.51 million) as it inches towards the two million sales mark.

Looking ahead to this weekend, Ryoo Seungwan’s highly anticipated Escape from Mogadishu will have no trouble topping the charts, but the question on everyone’s mind is how high it will be able to go in the current market. There’s been a pent-up thirst for a major local title, and the film was well received by critics last week.